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Mountain View fights to the end in comeback over Thompson Valley

Bjork's free throws cap Lions comeback over Eagles

By Sean Star Sports Writer

Posted:
02/22/2013 10:45:21 PM MST

Mountain View High School junior Brittney Bjork, left, is fouled by Thompson Valley senior Cassie Baalke on an inbounds play in the fourth quarter of their game on Friday at MVHS. Bjork made both of her ensuing free throws with 18.2 seconds remaining which was enough to give the Mountain Lions a 37-36 victory over the Eagles.
(Steve Stoner)

Brittney Bjork hadn't scored all game long. But for the entire third quarter, neither did the rest of the Mountain View High School girl's basketball team.

None of that mattered, though. Because with 18.2 seconds left in Friday night's crosstown game against Thompson Valley, the host Mountain Lions were somehow down just one point after trailing by double digits earlier in the fourth quarter.

Upon drawling a foul on an inbounds pass, Bjork stepped to the free-throw line with a chance to tie it or give her team the lead. The MVHS junior guard was as nervous as you'd expect her to be in that situation. But thanks to a couple deep breaths and some encouraging words from her teammates, she calmly sank both, sending her team to a 37-36 comeback victory over its crosstown rivals.

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"I knew I didn't score all night, and I needed to help my team out and do what I could," Bjork said of her only two points of the night. "I knew I had to hit those last two shots. And it just worked."

"Those were huge," MVHS senior Courtney Boynton added of the go-ahead points. "Her only points, and they were gorgeous. You couldn't have asked for better shots."

Mountain View High School senior Courtney Boynton, middle, battles for a rebound with Thompson Valley's Maddy Dickens, left, and Lexy Schoonover in the second quarter of their game on Friday at MVHS. The Mountain Lions erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 37-36.
(
Steve Stoner
)

The visiting Eagles had a chance to take the lead back one final time at the other end, but Josi Briggs' jumper from the baseline sailed long and into the arms of Nicole Goddard, putting an end to an incredible fourth-quarter turnaround for the Lions.

After trailing 20-19 at the half, Mountain View went ice-cold in the third, missing on all 11 of their field goal attempts and their only two free throws. But allowing just seven points defensively allowed them to hang around, setting the stage for an 18-point final frame.

Six different Lions scored in the quarter, including eight by Kate Annan, who led her team with 12 points after the Lions fell behind by 10 a minute into the fourth on a layup by TV guard Lexy Schoonover, whose 12 points were a team-best also matched by Paige Chase.

MVHS steadily climbed its way back throughout the final eight minutes, finishing the game on a 10-2 run to snap a two-game losing streak and finish the regular season at 10-13 and 5-9 in the NC. TVHS, meanwhile, dropped to 15-7 overall and 10-4 in league play.

It was a total team effort to erase the deficit, exemplified by Boynton's layup in the final minute to pull within one, 36-35, as Jessie Rollstin pulled down a huge offensive rebound on the possession to give her team another chance. The Lions capitalized, sending Boynton and fellow senior Katie Wilson off with a memorable win on senior night.

"I can't say enough -- the rivalry game made it even more special for me," said Boynton, who finished with 11 points. "A game that I'll never forget."

The Eagles, on the other, hand, will likely want to move past this one as soon as possible, as the loss might've cost them a chance at hosting a first-round playoff game next week.

And they definitely had their chances on both ends. But too many turnovers and too many silly fouls eventually caught up to them.

"We kind of lost focus on some of the things we needed to do. When we have the lead, we don't need to scramble on defense and risk going for fouls and steals," said TVHS coach Chad Walker, whose team finished tied with Centaurus for second in the NC. "We just need to take care of the basketball and keep everybody in front of us defensively. It's kind of like the roles were reversed when you looked at the scoreboard."

TV senior guard Cassie Baalke said the reason for blowing the late came down primarily to not keeping their composure. But however costly the defeat may end up being, there's no reason for looking back now heading into the postseason.

"We can't really do anything about it now," Baalke said. "We just have to learn from it and work for our next game."

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